James Kater & The Freetown State Forest

[CMan0928]

On September 8, 1978 he supposedly abducted and killed Mary Lou Arruda. Her remains were found on November 11, 1978 tied to a tree in Freetown State Forest, the undisputed site of much cult activity. My question is, was Kater a Satanist or involved in any kind of occult activities? I know during one of his retrials his main defense was that the police were not forthright on the fact that cults have been known to frequent Freetown State Forest and that they could have provided an alternative possibility for Arruda's murder. Chris Balzano, author of the book 'Dark Woods', has said that during his research on Kater he discovered that Kater lived in the Merrimack Valley during a time period when occult activity was taking place there as well. Coincidence or something more?

[Rafterman]

There have been a couple of FSF threads around here over the years.

Could there have been occult activity, sure. But who knows really. As for Kater, he had FOUR trials and was convicted once it became known that he had previously kidnapped, tortured, and tried to murder another young woman. Oh, and he tied her to a tree to boot. Fortunately she lived to tell her tale. His appeal went all the way to the US Supreme Court. I'm comfortable in the belief that they got the right man.

In my opinion, all of the hubbub about the FSS is simply a case of a large sparsely populated forest in the midst of one of the largest population corridors in the US. If you were up to nafarious deeds, that's exactly where you'd go.

Edited October 21, 2013 by Rafterman

[CMan0928]

There have been a couple of FSF threads around here over the years.

Could there have been occult activity, sure. But who knows really. As for Kater, he had FOUR trials and was convicted once it became known that he had previously kidnapped, tortured, and tried to murder another young woman. Oh, and he tied her to a tree to boot. Fortunately she lived to tell her tale. His appeal went all the way to the US Supreme Court. I'm comfortable in the belief that they got the right man.

In my opinion, all of the hubbub about the FSS is simply a case of a large sparsely populated forest in the midst of one of the largest population corridors in the US. If you were up to nafarious deeds, that's exactly where you'd go.

That's one way to look at it. That was my first post here. I'll check out the other threads on the subject. Thanks for the heads up. And yes, I too believe that they have the right guy. But when looking over all the evidence something feels off. Kater and I are are actually from the same town in Massachusetts, Brockton. Or at least at the time of the Arruda murder he was living in Brockton. And one of the first things I thought when I found that out was, there are LOTS of great places to conduct such a crime without having to drive down to FSF. Balzano also, coincidentally, pointed out the same fact back in, I believe 2006, on an episode of Spooky Southcoast. It just seems like an odd coincidence.

[Rafterman]

That's one way to look at it. That was my first post here. I'll check out the other threads on the subject. Thanks for the heads up. And yes, I too believe that they have the right guy. But when looking over all the evidence something feels off. Kater and I are are actually from the same town in Massachusetts, Brockton. Or at least at the time of the Arruda murder he was living in Brockton. And one of the first things I thought when I found that out was, there are LOTS of great places to conduct such a crime without having to drive down to FSF. Balzano also, coincidentally, pointed out the same fact back in, I believe 2006, on an episode of Spooky Southcoast. It just seems like an odd coincidence.

As any investigator and you'll find that the criminal world is full of "odd coincidences". And in most cases, it's only an odd coincidence after the fact.

[rashore]

That's one way to look at it. That was my first post here. I'll check out the other threads on the subject. Thanks for the heads up. And yes, I too believe that they have the right guy. But when looking over all the evidence something feels off. Kater and I are are actually from the same town in Massachusetts, Brockton. Or at least at the time of the Arruda murder he was living in Brockton. And one of the first things I thought when I found that out was, there are LOTS of great places to conduct such a crime without having to drive down to FSF. Balzano also, coincidentally, pointed out the same fact back in, I believe 2006, on an episode of Spooky Southcoast. It just seems like an odd coincidence.

Might have just been part of his M.O.. I didn't get too into reading, but it looks like in the other case against him, he kidnapped Jacalyn Bussiere and drove her about a half an hour away before tying her up too.